The Tears You Shed
by dystrophoria
Summary: A Kisuke and Yuirichi fanfic about their relationship as childhood friends and what they have become after all those years together.
1. Tears and Charms

A/N: This is my first Fanfic in a loooooooong time, but it's my first one this site. It's based more on the emotions of the characters as opposed to plot, but I hope you still like it. I'm trying to make it as logical as possible. Please read and review, I would love the support and criticism.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters. I assure you if I did, I would remotely resemble Tite Kubo.

* * *

**The Tears You Shed**

**Chapter One: Tears and Charms**

* * *

-"Crybaby" She grumbled looking down at the boy on the ground.

He glanced up at her but didn't cease his onslaught of tears. She sighed.

-"I'm sorry, okay?" She spit out grudgingly, pity tugging at her heart strings.

-"You mean it…?" He asked tearfully, peering up at her with watery eyes.

-"Yes…"

-"For what?"

-"Hitting you too hard…" He didn't have to drag it out every time.

-"Okay!" His eyes cleared and he bounced up, unaffected. "I have something to show you Yoruichi-chan!" He grabbed her hand and the two children went peeling through the field where they were sparring and disappeared over a grassy hill in the distance.

---------

-"Dear gods, don't be such a wuss." She stepped off of his chest, her exasperation becoming irritation.

He looked up at her from where he lay. Her dusty footprint contrasted with the black of his robes, proof of her superiority in hand to hand combat.

-"I was hoping one day you'd show me some sympathy." He grinned through his tears at her, and rolled over on his side languidly.

Yoruichi scoffed, "So this was a ploy to make me feel sorry for you all along?"

-"You COULD feel guilty for once." His grin directed to the sky.

She nudged his arm from where his head was propped. He collapsed rather unceremoniously with a thump.

-"Honestly, Kisuke, I don't know why I bother." She looked away, hiding a grin. "You make me feel so horrible sometimes. I go to bed crying every night from all the guilt." Two could play at this game.

Kisuke gasped dramatically.

-"I didn't think you could FEEL" He said, eyes widening not unlike his smirk.

-"Apparently YOU can't, if you're employing these falsities to manipulate my feelings," She shot back.

He, however, shot up from the ground.

-"Time for class! I need to get back to the academy!" He yelled, a cloud of dust forming after his retreating figure.

-"You already graduated, genius!" She hollered, eyebrows raised. This stopped him, and he ran back and pecked her on the cheek swiftly.

-"Apparently today is not the day for my manly charms to work on you." Eyes gleaming mischievously as he glanced at her before taking off again.

She stood, slightly taken aback, before her wit returned.

-"That one won't work either, Urahara!"

The light kiss lingered as fleeting as her childhood friend.

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A/N: Again, please review. It would be much appreciated. 

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	2. Suggestive Suggestions

**A/N:** So I decided that the most accurate way to describe the 'story', if you will, as "dialogues between untamed genii". Ha ha. But it's going to be more like snippets or shapshots of random moments in their time together. I don't think I quite want to include any other characters, at least just yet. But please read and review, tell me what you think, rant, rave, and the like.  
Also, sorry for taking so long to update. Midterms are crucifying me with a crown of cyclohexane and the cross that is being dropped off a cliff is descending in the y-direction at a rate of 9.8m/s squared.

**Disclaimer: **In colloquial terms, if I owned Bleach, I must be pretty tank. As it stands I am not tank, therefore my capacity to own Bleach or any of its characters is very limited. Oh hey, it's a syllogism as well.

* * *

**The Tears You Shed**

**Chapter 2: Suggestive Suggestions**

* * *

-"We need a place to train." He stated pensively.

-"Isn't this good enough? It's been good enough for the past ten years."

-"Eleven. And we need a place to _train_." He emphasized.

-"What are you talking about?"

-"This plain is too open. Anyone can see us here."

She arched an eyebrow. "What is it that you don't want people seeing?"

He smiled mischievously. She sighed.

-"Don't be more suggestive than you actually mean, Kisuke, you're not that clever."

He laughed. "I wasn't being suggestive, my friend. If you were thinking a hentai's thoughts, that's your doing." He looked scandalized, "To think I trusted you enough not to contort such devious things out of my innocent words."

-"HA. Now you're being so melodramatic, you've lost all eloquence."

-"You never had any in the first place."

Her foot was inches from his temple in a tenth of a second.

-"Really? I thought my foot connecting to your face would be pretty eloquent."

-"You're just begging the word now." He grabbed her ankle without looking. "I was being compassionate to let you that close." He spun her leg, causing her to follow suit.

She caught herself in mid-air and landed on her hands, then flipped over his head and in one fluid and sweeping move; she landed and kicked him off balance.

-"Compassionate enough to cry about it?"

He rolled in the grass and stood up in a stance.

-"I'm a little more heartless than that." He straightened up. "I know the perfect place. Race you to it."

-"I don't even know where it is, baka." She retorted, a little disappointed that the warm-up only lasted that long. He must be intent on this. Nevertheless, she caught up with him and the two disappeared into the forest.

------

-"Shunpo, eh?"

-"Yeah, figured it was about time."

-"Indeed." She ducked another kick from him.

-"Aren't you proud of me?"

-"When you can catch up to me, maybe." Now she was asking for it. He grinned. He suddenly appeared from behind her and in an attempt to "catch" her, threw his arms around her waist before she could react to his movement.

Her eyes widened, and though he could not see the shock registered on her face, he could feel her back arch in surprise. He threw her playfully onto the ground.

-"I think I just did." He said innocently.

She stared at him from the dust ground, still taken aback. He had done something as familiar as this before, but she never thought of it as being anything significant. Now, she felt… exhilarated, feeling him behind her in that split second before she was thrown so unceremoniously. This didn't make sense. What…

-"I heard you made secret military." He held out a hand to help her up, but she simply raised her eyebrows.

-"And I heard you made Vice-captain. What's your point?"

-"No, but you made comm-"

-"I was appointed. It's my birthright."

He looked at her a while.

-"How do you like it?"

-"It's okay. I don't want to talk about it."

-"You sure?"

-"Yeah."

-"Okay." He knew better than to persist. A few broken ribs better than to press her for answers. "But so YOUNG, and a WOMAN, no less." He jested. He could sneak in a few more remarks.

-"I said I don't want to talk about it."

-"Speaking of positions," he changed subject unabated, "I think I've figured out a way to achieve Bankai…"

-"Because people have never done it before? I believe the method has been around for quite sometime." She eyed him skeptically. He was intelligent, but sometimes, not too bright.

-"…In a matter of days."

-"Ha ha, what? It takes at least ten years, for a skilled shinigami, at least."

-"The keyword being skilled." He pointed out, knowingly. "I like to think of myself as a little more than that."

-"Oh, the boundaries your modesty won't cross."

-"Of course, I am the very image of it." He looked at her innocently, but then became serious. "I think we can do it."

-"Are you SURE? This had better not be a waste of my time."

He sniffed, looking hurt.

-"Do you have that little faith in me?"

-"No, but I've been around you long enough to be wary of your excessive zeal."

-"It's not a bad thing." He protested in mock indignation.

-"How do you figure you'll do it?"

-"WE shall have to find a way to extract our zanpaktous' spirits and manifest them…" He sat down contemplatively.

-"And…?"

-"That's all I have so far."

She stared in disbelief.

-"That's it? Everyone knows that."

He grinned.

-"Yeah, well…"

-"You said you knew, baka."

-"That... may… have been due to my… er…'excessive zeal.'"

-"So you have no idea, do you?"

-"Heh…"

-------

-"Hm…I think I've got it." He bit into an apple and chewed thoughtfully. It was three days after they had that conversation.

-"Oh? Do tell."

-"Well, we want to extract the spirit out, transfer it from its world to our physical one."

-"And how do you propose that?"

-"There must be an instrument of some sort to do that _somewhere_. For someone to train with…?" His eyes glinted.

-"That spirit transfer shell!" Her eyes widened at the realization.

-"Now, why didn't I think of that before?" He asked non-committedly.

-"Guess I'll be paying the SMC research division a visit then…"

-"I thought you'd never offer."

-" Oh, so you KNEW, you liar." She punched him playfully in the arm.

-"I THOUGHT, my dear."

-"Yes, because those terms of endearment will save you. If anything you should be condemned for uttering such fluff to me."

-"Why are you so afraid to love, my _dear_?" He drawled.

Needless to say, he did not regain consciousness for a good ten minutes.

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**A/N:** Please review. Am I being too ambigious? Is it too choppy? Is it remotely humourous? Please let me know what you think. 


	3. The Bloody Princess

**A/N:** I know it's been awhile since I've last updated, but midterms and finals and everything in between have been keeping me quite busy. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a whole bunch of fighting, so heaven knows how exciting that is.

**Disclaimer:** Check my pockets and my sleeves, Bleach is not mine.

* * *

**The Tears You Shed**

**Chapter 3: The Bloody Princess**

* * *

-"Stabbing it? Isn't there a better way to do it?"

-"If there is, I invite you to find it." He waved his zanpakuto impatiently.

She sighed, propping a white figure up.

-"Just do it already."

-"Are you sure you don't want to go first?"

-"It's your idea."

-"Oh yeah…"

-"DO IT."

-"Okiro, Benihime." He charged the sword through the doll.

Benihime appeared before the two a pale woman clad in a deep red furisode. Her sleeves almost trailed to the ground, as did her long raven hair. The ends of her train were stained a darker colour. The obi at her waist displayed an intricate pattern embroidered in ebony. She opened her eyes demurely and trained them on Urahara. Her red lips formed into a graceful smile.

The two stared at both her beauty and their success. He was the first to break from his reverie.

-"Benihime." He stated.

-"Kisuke." Her voice was wistful, and gentle.

-"I think it's time."

-"Of course." She opened a fan, which turned out to be a tessen composed of blades. She scattered the blades and they multiplied, landing everywhere.

-"Let us begin."

---

He banked right, avoiding the lady zanpakuto's attack. _Too close._ He thought to himself and he counterattacked with a blow to her shoulder, which she blocked with ease. He didn't know how much longer he'd last.

She stood on a cliff over looking the fight below. He was getting his ass kicked. How long would he last?

---

Blood. Blood was spilled everywhere. He bled profusely and his hamaka was drenched in it. He spat out blood. The ferric taste stained his mouth.

-"Shit."

She charged him and he barely dodged the attack. He could see his reflection in the shiny blade that shot past him at eye level and then retreated back to her. He used Shunpo to get to the nearest blade. He had been unarmed for a second too long. Pulling it out of the ground, he countered another one of her strokes. His sword shattered the next block.

-"What the hell!" He yelled exasperatedly.

-"You baka! Stop being so chivalrous and hit her already. You're not fighting a REAL person, you know." Yoruichi was getting impatient. And worried. She had not seen him this badly hurt before. For once, maybe he seemed like he was in trouble.

-"It's not as easy as it looks, thanks." Kisuke yelled back.

-"Your fight is with me, Kisuke. Pay attention." Benihime whispered as she dug the tip of her sword into his shoulder. He shuddered, not from her soft lips near his ear, but from the pain as she pulled the sword out.

His hand found another hilt sticking up from the ground and he swung it at her. The blades sparked as they made contact. He pushed forward harder. Both swords shook from the struggle. Slowly, his cut through hers and the shattered pieces fell to the ground. Suddenly, the woman before him disappeared and around him, so did the swords.

He collapsed, blood rising up his throat.

-"Where..?" He could barely speak. His lungs felt crushed by the sheer gravity.

-"The doll only lasts 12 hours at a time. Any more and the zanpakuto risks being fully manifested." Yoruichi came to his side. Let's get you into the spring."

---

_-"A hot tub?"_

_-"No, a spring."_

_-"Okay, what's it do?"_

_-"Heal stuff."_

_-"Heal stuff."_

_-"Yes."_

It had been a sweltering afternoon when he had decided this. A lot of work had been put into this. The spring was of natural water, he had spent days tapping around the underground room, muttering to himself about the 'right spot', and digging like a madman. When she asked him why he didn't just use kidou to do the job, he exclaimed rather fanatically that there was significance to what he was doing. Such was his way when he had been sleepless for a few nights, bent on finishing what fancied him at the moment. She simply sat back and watched his antics bemusedly, and fondly, one might add. There was something refreshing about his frivolity, she never knew how to react to it.

_-"MY TOILS WILL NOT BE FOR NAUGHT!"_ _He had yelled._

_-"Excuse me?"_

_-"SIGNIFICANCE"_

_-"Ah. I'm not going to pretend I understand what you're talking about."_

_-"You should try, it's much more amusing that way."_

_-"Yeah, I'll get on that." She watched him pour mixture after mixture of various concoctions into a bowl. _

_-"What are you doing exactly?"_

_-Figuring out how the "heal stuff" part of the spring will work."_

_She watched him for a little while longer._

_-"If you want reiatsu, why don't you…" she poured a few of the bottles in._

_He stared at her, wondering why he hadn't thought of that._

_-"Marry me."_

_-"Aren't we a little young? I'm so naïve. I mean, I still have so much to learn." She smirked._

_-"I can teach you," He grinned back._

_-"Of course you can," She said dismissively, "-but I wouldn't trust you THAT much." She added hastily as he opened his mouth to say something. Truth be told, She wasn't sure she could trust herself around him._

---

Day two.

Ow. That scratch kind of hurt. He was doing much better compared to yesterday. The rest had done him well. But he was still nowhere near finding the right sword. Where the hell. He blocked another blow from the princess. When will this end?! The blow sent him sliding on the ground, sending a cloud of dust in the air, but at least he landed on his feet. He was getting used to her strength and agility.

Another sword, another fake. He was getting impatient. He took a stab at Benihime and his sword dug into her arm. It's about time. He threw his sword away. It was still in good condition, but he was beginning to notice that each sword weighed differently. They had a different feeling to them, and on this second day, he could tell that some swords just didn't feel right at all. It may have been a wager, a bit of a risky one, as he may have passed over the sword he was looking for, but it seemed to be a risk he was willing to take. He was tired of this redundancy, and his gut agreed.

She sat on the edge of the cliff, watching him. She was beginning to get a little worried, it was near the end of his second day, she was not sure how long this could last, what the consequences of using this doll were. Suddenly, without warning, the woman in red plunged her sword into his abdomen. He grunted, unable to breathe. As he fell to his knees, Yoruichi moved. In what looked like a blur, she pulled his limp body from the sword and moved toward the spring. A scream of rage came from the princess.

"THIS IS NOT YOUR FIGHT" She shrieked. Yoruichi ignored this and kept moving, the zanpakuto unable to catch up. She dumped Kisuke into the spring, making sure she kept his face out of the water. She counted the seconds it took to heal him.

One…

The water started to sizzle around his wounds.

Two…

Yoruichi used Shunpo again to dodge the blade of the princess.

Three…

He started to sink. Shit.

Four…

She dove towards his head, hoping to grasp it before he breathed in.

Five…

She missed, and the zanpakuto raised her weapon.

Six…

She dove into the spring.

Seven…

He started to convulse, slowly gaining consciousness. He started to kick. He stood up, and jumped out of the spring, ready to fight again. She pulled herself out of the spring.

-"Yoruichi." He said evenly.

-"Yeah?" Trying to catch her breath.

-"Don't ever do that again."

Her eyes narrowed.

-"What?"

-"This is my fight, I'll live or die by my mistakes. Don't interfere." He echoed his zanpakuto.

She opened her mouth angrily to reply, but Benihime had started to attack him. He struck her once and she disappeared. They both stood frozen. Was this it? Did he do it?

-"Time's up."

-"End day two."

They fell silent, not looking at one another.

-"You would have died." His voice suppressed rage.

-"And so would you." She replied matter-of-factly.

-"She wouldn't have come after you if you didn't jump in."

-"I wasn't fearing for my life, Kisuke. You almost died."

-"It would have been weak of me." His eyes narrowed, sarcastically.

-"I wasn't about to let you die just because your masculinity won't let you deal with the fact that I saved your ass."

-"Look, if you wanted to fight so badly maybe you should have gone first."

-"Oh, so this is what I get for caring about you."

-"This was something _I_ had to do, not you, or anyone else. Don't play the guilt card on me."

-"_You_ do it all the goddamn time Kisuke, why can't I when it's something that really matters?! Don't make me out to be the bad guy here."

-"Look, just," He took a deep breath, "don't jump in again, ok?"

-"Fine, I'll just let you die next time, is that what you want? Will that make you happy? Knowing you died because I didn't help you when I could have?"

-"Not when it comes to something like this. Hello, it's _my_ Bankai, _my_ zanpakuto, _my_ pride-"

-"Oh-ho, so it is your pride, you can't let something like that kill you."

-"Yeah, so what if it is, people die because of it all the time, and what's to say I would have died?"

-"You're saying you would have survived a stab like that?"

-"You underestimate me."

She threw up her hands, exasperated.

-"Fine. I won't interfere." She glared at him. "Do what you want. I won't bother with your life ever again." And with that, and a blur, she disappeared.

He sighed, flopping down on the ground, sending a cloud of dust flying. He rubbed his face, tired. He had never seen her pull a stunt that stupid, one so irrational. She was the most levelheaded person he knew. She pulled him back from doing some pretty stupid things himself.

Putting aside his male ego, he knew she did it in his best interest, that he owed her his life, but she could have died in the process. He wasn't sure how he could have dealt with that. He knew, at least, he would have done the same thing, had it been her in his place. He smiled sardonically, looking up at the ceiling of the chamber. It was hard having a friend willing to die for you.

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**A/N:** Well, hoped you liked it. A _furisode_ is a type of kimono usually worn by single women, and a _tessen_ is a type of war-fan. Please feel free and compelled to comment and review. And help me spare the world from this travesty against the english art of writing by improving this story. :)


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